What Must I do to Receive Eternal Life?
For the short time that we live, life is a struggle. We struggle with ill health, with the ravages of weather, with shortages of necessities, and, most of all, with broken relationships. We can’t get along with each other. The earth is filled with hatreds, crime, and violence and seems to be getting worse every day. In our hearts, we know that it shouldn’t be this way. But what is the solution? Mankind has tried every remedy that can be imagined by the mind of man, going from one religion to another and even to no religion at all and from one form of government to another. When we look at the wreckage we call human society, it all seems so hopeless and, to make matters worse, death awaits us all. Yet, as bad as life in this world can be, we understand that life is too precious a gift to have it end. Most have settled for the idea that eternal life can be obtained through just trying to be a “good” person or following a set of religious rules and observances.
But God has informed us through His ancient and consistent word, the Holy Bible, that eternal life cannot be obtained in that way nor do those efforts bring the quality of life that we ought to experience in this world. The problem is that we are corrupt at the core of our being and need desperately to be changed; all man’s efforts fall short of what is needed. Only God Himself has the solution. His way brings a fulfilling life of love, inner peace, and joy that lasts forever and holds the cure for all that is wrong with our world. His way provides the only remedy that gets to the root cause of all our trouble – an inborn tendency to violate the will of God for our lives, which we call sin. His way takes us from being a part of the problem to being a part of the solution. His way of salvation is found only in the person, Jesus Christ, who is both the Son and the incarnation of God, the Creator of the universe. So let us look now at how He can deliver us from eternal punishment for our sins and from the bitter troubles we make for ourselves and for others.
Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ
In the gospel of John, we find Jesus saying of Himself, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) The use of the word “believe” together with “in” expresses the idea of belief that results in our being reliant or dependent on Jesus for salvation and leadership in our lives, rather than merely believing the facts about Jesus in a detached way. But before we can believe in Him, we must know who He is and how that should affect our lives. Because of the evil at work in the world, men have claimed different things for the name, Jesus Christ; but the Holy Bible, which is the work of God’s servants, many of whom were eye-witnesses, who were all under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God, provides the only true presentation of the Person, Jesus Christ.
The fundamental points of belief
The Bible teaches us that believing in Jesus Christ must bring us into agreement, at a minimum, with the following fundamental points.
• Jesus is the Son of God.
PRESENTATION =>
• Jesus is your Lord; He is the One above all that you should obey.
PRESENTATION =>
• You are guilty of sin, wrong-doing; you have fallen short of what God expects and, apart from Christ, you have no righteousness in the eyes of God, and you must want, with the help of Jesus, to turn away from sin.
PRESENTATION =>
• You cannot rely on your own works or effort or the works of other persons or organizations, such as a church, to gain salvation; but your salvation is entirely by God’s grace, His unmerited favor, through your faith in Jesus Christ; salvation is the gift of God.
PRESENTATION =>
• Jesus is your savior, having suffered death on the cross in your place to pay for your sins.
PRESENTATION =>
• Jesus was raised from the dead.
PRESENTATION =>
From Romans 10:13, we have “… whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved; but how shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed?” But if you now believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, agreeing with all of the fundamental points above, and want to begin your new life in Christ and be assured of your salvation, you can call on the name of the Lord by praying the prayer of commitment, below.
If you have not reached the point of believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, you can click on a link associated with any of the points above to get a Biblical presentation of that point, or you can scroll down a little further and read the full presentation of the fundamental points of belief.
Prayer of Commitment
Almighty God, I am truly sorry for my sins and need your forgiveness. I believe that Your Son, Jesus, died on the cross to pay for all my sins and that He has risen from the dead, and I am trusting in what He did for me. Help me to turn from sin and live my life the way Jesus wants me to live. Thank you for loving me and forgiving me of all my sins. Amen.
If you have now put your trust in Jesus Christ as described above and committed yourself to faith in Jesus Christ by praying this prayer, click on the following link to find out what should be next in your new life in Christ.
What should follow your commitment? =>
Full presentation of
the fundamental points of belief
If you do not have your own copy of the Holy Bible, you can access an on-line Bible in a separate tab at biblegateway.com. The New American Standard Bible, the Holman Christain Standard Bible, and the New International Version are among the best English translations.
Jesus is the Son of God
Jesus said to His disciples, “‘… whom do you say that I am?’ and Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ And Jesus answered him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah; for flesh and blood has not revealed it to you but my Father which is in heaven.’” (Matthew 16:15-17)
By being the Son of God, Jesus Christ is in nature both fully God and fully human. John states in his gospel, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made.” (John 1:1-3; 14) John uses the term, Word, to mean Jesus Christ, in the sense that He is the living embodiment of the Word of God. These verses state clearly that Jesus has pre-existence with the Father, He has always been with the Father, and He is, indeed, God. And because He is God, He is the Creator of all things as well. This same person, who is God, also became flesh. “And the Word became flesh and dwelled among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14) The Apostle, Paul, says it this way, “For by Him were all things created, that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible … all things were created by Him and for Him. And He is before all things and by Him all things exist.” (Colossians 1:16-17) Seven hundred years before the birth of Jesus Christ, the prophet, Isaiah, revealed this about Jesus: “For unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given, and the government shall be upon His shoulder, and His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, and the Prince of Peace. ” (Isaiah 9:6)
About five hundred years years before the birth of Jesus Christ, God told Zechariah the prophet that, at some future point in time, the people of Jerusalem “shall look upon Me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for Him as one mourns for an only son …” (Zechariah 12:10) God tells us that when Jesus would be pierced by nails and hung on a cross and later pierced through the chest with a spear, that it would be He, Himself, there on the cross as the person Jesus. The concept of the Trinity, God in three persons, is expressed in this verse. In mid-sentence God switched from reference to Himself as “Me” and referred to Himself as “Him.” God is present on the cross as another person, His Son, distinguishable from the Father by being in the flesh.
Anyone involved in a heretical sect must take particular care to know and understand the true nature of Christ as presented in the Bible. For instance, he or she must understand that Jesus is not a created being as some sects believe, nor is He a brother of Satan and Adam, as another sect believes, nor is He a lesser God than the Father. Jesus is not simply a great teacher but is God in the flesh, sent both to instruct and to save us from our sins.
Jesus is Lord
A person with great power and authority is called a lord. Jesus, as God, possesses all the power and authority of God over us and, therefore, is Lord. David spoke of Jesus prophetically as his Lord in Psalm 110:1. And Jesus referred to this passage by saying, “‘What do you think of Christ? Whose son is He?’ And they said to Him, ‘The son of David.’ And He said to them, ‘How then does David in spirit call him Lord, saying, “The LORD (God) said to my Lord, ‘Sit on my right hand till I make your enemies your footstool?’”’” (Matthew 22:42-45) Paul said, “That, at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, of those in heaven and those on earth and those under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:10-11) So Jesus has Godly authority over us and believing in Him requires us to agree that Jesus is Lord, that Jesus is the One above all that we ought to obey.
We are all sinners in the eyes of God
All of us, however, have failed to obey God; we are all sinners both by nature and by deed, who need to be saved. None of us are righteous on our own merits. Paul quoted several passages from the Psalms when he said, “As it is written, ‘There is none righteous; no, not one. There is none that understands; there is none that seeks after God. They have all gone out of the way; they have altogether become unprofitable; there is none that does good; no, not one.’” (Romans 3:10-12) Sin occurs both by doing things that we should not do and not doing things that we should do. Paul said of himself, “The good, that I desire to do, I do not do; but the evil which I desire not to do, I do. … O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” (Romans 7:19 & 24) The whole human race has inherited this condition from our first parents, Adam and Eve. We are all like what Paul and the Psalms describe. Because of our sin problem, all humankind became separated from God; but through Jesus, reconciliation is now possible. Paul further said: “… sin entered into the world by one man and death by sin and death passed upon all men since all have sinned. … As through one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of One shall many be made righteous.” (Romans 5:12 & 19) No one can enter into a saving relationship with Christ, thinking that he is free to do anything. The Apostle Paul warned those in the church who were freely practicing sin: “Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who take on a female persona, nor those having sex with a person of the same sex, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners shall inherit the kingdom of God.” (1 Corinthians 6:9-10) So we must agree that we are sinners in need of God’s forgiveness and that we want Jesus to bring changes in our lives and help us turn away from sin.
Our good works do not save us
Salvation is not based on any good works that we might do. Paul said, “For by grace you are saved through faith and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God has prepared before so that we might walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:8-10) Grace is unmerited favor, God’s generosity towards us, in giving us salvation we do not deserve. It’s as though God were reaching His hand down to us through Jesus, so that we may, through faith in Jesus, reach our hand up to take His. Yet we cannot even take credit for our faith since Paul tells us “that not of yourselves.” If we are saved, we will do good works; good works will flow from our condition of being saved; but no credit toward salvation shall come from them. God alone has done all the work of salvation; we simply receive it through faith in Jesus Christ.
John agrees with Paul, as shown in the following verses, that we contribute nothing to our salvation: “… as many as did receive Him, to them He gave power to become the sons of God, to those that believe on His name, which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” (John 1:12-13) “Not of blood” speaks of our not relying on any form of inheritance, should anyone think that because his parents are Christians that he is automatically saved; for Jews, none should think, that because he is a biological descendant of Abraham, he is saved. “Nor of the will of the flesh” speaks of our not relying on our own effort or merits to be saved. “Nor of the will of man” speaks of our not relying on the efforts, pronouncements, or decrees of others to grant salvation; nor is there salvation to be found in the numerous religions and philosophies that have arisen from the will and notions of men, some of which are called Christian. “But of God” speaks of the opposite, a new birth which comes from above, from God, a spiritual rebirth resulting from believing on the name of Jesus Christ. Our salvation comes entirely from God because of His grace through the everlasting work of Jesus on the cross, done once and for all time.
Jesus is our savior
Only Jesus Christ can save us from the punishment and enslavement of our sins. God is just and cannot ignore sin; punishment is required. “The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:23) “For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through Him might be saved.” (John 3:17) So we must believe in Jesus as our personal savior and rely on what He did on the cross, experiencing not only a physical death in our place but tasting for us a crushing separation of the soul from God. Jesus cried out to God the Father from the cross words expressing a feeling of abandonment that we would someday feel if we have not chosen to receive God’s salvation, “My God, My God! Why have you forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46) Jesus paid the penalty for all our sins in full. “He was wounded for our transgressions; He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes (wounds from a lash) we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have all turned to his own way; and the LORD (God) has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:5-6) Jesus’ sacrifice was effective for paying the penalty for our sin because He never committed any sin; He did not inherit the sin nature as we have. This is because He was God in the flesh, without an earthly father, born of a virgin, conceived in her womb by the Holy Spirit. (Luke 1:35; Matthew 1:18) Paul said, “We are ambassadors for Christ as though God is pleading with you by us; we plead on behalf of Christ that you be reconciled to God. For He has made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21) Furthermore, we must believe in Jesus Christ as our personal savior because there is no other way to be saved. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man comes to the Father but by me.” (John 14:6) Paul said, “Neither is there salvation in any other; for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12)
Jesus was raised bodily from the dead
Believing in Jesus also means that we must believe in our hearts that God has raised Jesus from the dead. A description of His resurrection occurs at the end of all four gospels. Paul said, “… that is the word of faith, which we preach, that if you shall confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and shall believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved.” (Romans 10:9; the Greek word, homologeo, in the original text of Romans, which is translated “confess,” in this verse carries the meaning “to acknowledge, to agree with.”) Without the resurrection of Jesus, there would be no resurrection of ourselves at the end of the present era and the gospel would be powerless to accomplish anything. (1 Corinthians 15:13-14) We must believe in the living Lord Jesus not in a dead teacher. Furthermore, our faith in Jesus should not be kept secret within ourselves; but when the opportunity arises, we should not shrink back from openly acknowledging to others our faith in Him as our Lord and Savior. Faith without action is a dead faith. (James 2:17)
If you now believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, you can click on the following link to review the fundamental points and pray the prayer.
The fundamental points of belief
Further reading
If you still have some uncertainty, reading through the Gospel of John in the New Testament section of the Holy Bible is a good place to start. There is also confidence and understanding to be gained by clicking on Jesus in Hebrew Prophecy, which is on this website and takes you through how the coming of Jesus Christ was revealed to His prophets in the Old Testament. Jesus’ nature and mission are fully revealed in those scriptures, hundreds of years before. A man living in the territory of Israel at the time of Jesus’ birth should have had no trouble recognizing Him as his Messiah, Lord, and Savior, though many failed to do so because of a fog of concern with the things of this world clouding their minds. “For the mind consumed with the things of the flesh is opposed to God.” (Romans 8:7)
There are also hundreds of audio recordings of Bible lessons presented by our teachers in the Son Burst class on this website. For example, click on the tab “Topical Archive” at the top of this web page, then click on the range of Bible books beginning with “Matthew – …” under the photo of Matthew McKellar, our regular teacher, to find lessons on the gospel books of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, which you can listen to by clicking on the lesson number at the left of a lesson title. You can also watch and listen to the Sunday worship service at First Baptist Church, Dallas, TX, through the internet by clicking on WATCH after clicking on FirstDallas.org at 9:15 AM CST or 11:00 AM CST.
If you have questions, you can email them to us by clicking on the following
eternal-life@SonBurstClass.org
If you have committed yourself to Jesus Christ in prayer, what should follow?
As soon as you can, tell someone of your new commitment of faith in Jesus Christ; you can do this by emailing us using the above email address/link; we’d love to hear from a new brother or sister in Christ. As Paul’s words, “confess with your mouth,” imply, our faith must not be kept a secret. Jesus said, “Whoever then shall confess me before men, I will confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whoever shall deny me before men, I will also deny before my Father which is in heaven.” (Matthew 10:32-33)
Jesus gave these assurances of our salvation in Him: “All that the Father gives me shall come to me; and he that comes to me I will in no way cast out.” (John 6:37) “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me; and I give them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.” (John 10:27-28)
You have received also the gift of the Holy Spirit of God, who is now living in your heart and will comfort you and lead you through life the way Jesus wants you to live, renewing your mind and making of you a new creation. “… after you believed you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, …” (Ephesians 1:13) “Therefore if any man is in Jesus Christ, he is a new creature; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)
Make a note of this day. You might want to copy and print this entire presentation or, at least, the following statement and insert today’s date in the blank space:
This day, ______________________________, I received Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior and, with Him, God’s forgiveness of all my sins, the Holy Spirit of God in my life, and the beginning of a new life in Christ that will grow and last forever.
Now that you have received Jesus as your Lord and Savior, be obedient to Christ by being baptized by immersion. As soon as you can, go to a church whose beliefs and practices come entirely from the Holy Bible and ask to be baptized. If you live in the Dallas area, any of our ministers here at First Baptist Church, Dallas, would love to perform your baptism for you. We can also help you to grow in your new relationship to God through Jesus Christ. We have many Bible study classes that meet on Sunday mornings and at other times and, of course, the Sunday morning services, in which our pastor teaches from the Word of God. You can watch and listen to the Sunday worship service at First Baptist Church, Dallas, TX, through the internet by clicking on WATCH after clicking on FirstDallas.org at 9:15 AM CST or 11:00 AM CST. We also invite you to consider the Son Burst Class, which is blessed with great teachers and caring class members. Whether you join with our church or not, it is of vital importance, if at all possible, that you join a church that teaches the Word of God from the Bible. Satan wants to isolate you from your fellow believers and the teaching of the Word of God because then he has a great advantage over you, to keep you an infant in Christ and bogged down with sin, thus robbing you of your joy in the faith. Satan would also like to entice you into one of his heretical churches that has departed from the sound teaching of the Holy Bible, thus, making you ineffective as a follower of Christ.
Regardless of whether you have received some form of baptism before, you must be baptized after having made this new commitment of faith in Christ. Any baptism that does not follow a saving commitment of faith is not valid, and the baptism must be performed as Jesus and His apostles performed it – by immersion; for the word baptism in the original Greek text of the New Testament means immersion. The order followed everywhere in the New Testament is: repent, confess faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and be baptized. Paul characterized the symbolism of baptism this way: “Do you not know that as many of us, as were baptized into Jesus Christ, were immersed into His death? Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death, that, as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of His death, so also shall we be [raised] in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.” (Romans 6:3-6)
If you have now begun your new life in Christ, you can be sure that God has forgiven you all your sins and will continue to forgive you when you fall into sin and confess your sins to Him. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. … My little children, I write these things to you in order that you not sin. But if any man sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” (1 John 1:9 & 2:1) The word confess, here, conveys the idea of agreeing with God that what we did was wrong.
Perhaps you have friends who would also want to receive God’s forgiveness and eternal life in Christ. You can copy the URL at the top of your browser and include it in an e-mail; or, if you wish, you may copy the entire contents of this presentation and give copies to as many as you wish.
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All scripture quotations are the author’s paraphrase of the King James Version of the Holy Bible with reliance on the original Greek text of the New Testament for clarification.
Clickable Outline:
I. Introduction
II. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ
III. The fundamental points of belief
IV. The full presentation of the fundamental points of belief
3. We are all sinners in the eyes of God
4. Our good works do not save us
